Lifestyle links to breast cancer
According to the latest research as many as 20,000 British women could avoid developing breast cancer if they took more exercise, drank less and ate better. The World Cancer Research Fund recommends taking half an hour of physical exercise a day, limiting alcohol consumption to just one drink daily and losing weight.
According to Dr Rachel Thompson, Deputy Head of Science at WCRF, “These figures show that we still have a long way to go to raise awareness about what women can do to prevent breast cancer… It is very worrying that in the UK there are still tens of thousands of cases of breast cancer which could be prevented every year. Breast cancer can be prevented by cutting down on drinking, being more physically active and carrying less body fat. There is convincing evidence that alcohol consumption increases the risk of breast cancer. In postmenopausal women there is convincing evidence that body fatness also increases risk and there is evidence that regular physical activity probably reduces the risk of breast cancer.”
Latest figures suggest that 47,600 women developed breast cancer in 2008, with a quarter of those who have tumours later dying. But the WCRF estimates that 42 per cent of these cases – around 20,000 cancers – would be preventable if women developed healthier lifestyles.
The WCRF lays down its 10 Recommendations for Cancer Prevention that include being “as lean as possible without becoming underweight”; keeping fit; limiting consumption of fatty, salty and sugary food and drink; eating fruit, vegetables and pulses; eating less red meat and processed meat; drinking less and choosing a balanced diet rather than vitamin supplements.
However some campaign groups cautioned that breast cancer is a complex disease and that living healthily may not always be enough to avoid developing tumours. Dr Rachel Greig, Senior Policy Officer at Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said, “A woman’s lifestyle choices don’t mean for certain that she will or won’t get breast cancer because genetic and environmental factors can also play a part.”
New genetic links to breast cancer
Researchers have found three more genes linked to the most common form of breast cancer. This could lead to new ways of diagnosing and treating ‘estrogen receptor positive’ breast cancer, the hormonally responsive form that accounts for four out of five cases of breast cancer.
Researchers noted that all three genes were found to be linked to the estrogen receptor gene, although their behaviour is independent of it. The scientists say the newly discovered genes may influence the behaviour of breast cancer and may therefore be the target of future cancer therapies.
The study was carried out by researchers from the Royal Marsden Hospital and the Institute of Cancer Research, London. It was funded by the Mary-Jean Mitchell Green Foundation, Breakthrough Breast Cancer and the NHS. The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal, PLoS Genetics.
For the study the team looked at breast cancer cells taken from 104 patients with ‘estrogen receptor positive’ breast cancer. This is a type of breast cancer where the cancerous cells are stimulated by the presence of the female hormone estrogen due to them possessing receptors for the hormone. The researchers wanted to identify any gene variants that were closely linked to ESR1, the main gene that governs the estrogen receptor in the human body. The researchers explained that about 80% of all breast cancers are of this type, which is known to respond to anti-oestrogen therapy, such as the commonly used drug tamoxifen.
Results from the study showed three previously uncharacterised genes ‘immediately upstream’ of ESR1, that is, in the genetic sequence immediately surrounding the ESR1 gene. These were called C6ORF96, C6ORF97, C6ORF211. They found that while these genes were closely linked to the estrogen receptor gene, they were working separately from it. They found that C6ORF211 appeared to drive the growth of tumours and C6ORF97 appeared to be an indicator of a tumour not coming back, as well as a good predictor of response to tamoxifen. Less was discovered about the function of C6ORF96. The researchers say their observations suggest some of the biological effects previously attributed to the ESR1, the estrogen receptor gene, could be mediated or modified by these co-expressed genes.
Professor Mitch Dowsett, who led the research, said that the research shows that “while the estrogen receptor is the main driver of hormonal breast cancer, there are others next door to it that also appear to influence breast cancer behaviour. We now need to better understand how they work together and how we can utilize them to save lives of women with breast cancer.” Because C6ORF211 appears to drive the growth of tumours, the team sees this as the most likely target for new treatments.
Researchers note, further work needs to be undertaken into the behaviour of these genes, to see if or how they influence the risk and also course of the disease. It is possible that one or all of these genes could be targets for new therapies to prevent and treat breast cancer treatments in the future, but substantial research is required to develop the new, experimental treatments first and then to ascertain whether safe treatment or prevention is possible.
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